Judge sentences Newport News rapper to 16 years on firearms charges

NEWPORT NEWS — A Newport News judge sentenced a local rapper to 16 years in prison Monday.

Newport News Judge Timothy S. Fisher sentenced Antwain Steward on two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and shooting into an occupied dwelling. Steward, 23, also had been charged with two homicides, but a jury found him not guilty in May of those offenses.

Fisher sentenced Steward, who goes by the rap name Twain Gotti, to the mandatory sentence of eight years on the two use-of-a-firearm charges and another eight years on the charge of shooting into an occupied dwelling. He also was fined $50,000. Fisher's sentence was the same as recommended by the jury.

A jury found Steward not guilty of two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Brian Dean, 20, and Christopher Horton, 16, on May 10, 2007. The two victims were standing outside Horton's home at 23rd Street and Orcutt Avenue when they were gunned down at 1:15 p.m.

Dean, who was in the Navy, was not a target, according to police. Dean was staying temporarily at Horton's home and was caught in the crossfire. Horton and Steward were in rival gangs and that's what prompted the fatal shooting, police said.

Horton had recently moved to the territory of Steward's gang, police said.

Steward declined to make a statement before being sentenced and had no reaction when Fisher made his decision.

Defense Attorney James Ellenson asked Fisher to suspend eight years of Steward's sentence for the charge of shooting into an occupied dwelling and just make Steward serve the mandatory minimum of eight years on the firearms charges. Senior Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Robin Farkas argued Ellenson's time request was not sufficient for the crime.

"We have two victims that are dead and families that will never be made whole again — they will suffer for the rest of their lives," Farkas said. "Eight years seems rather minor for the damage he has done."

Though Steward's arrest was born in part out of a verse in a rap song, rap music took a back seat during the three-day trial. The topic only came up if mentioned by the defense.

Steward was charged with the homicides last summer, police said, after they learned that one of his rap songs, "Ride Out," referred to the double homicide.